Take It From Me: How to Brave a Concert Alone

If you are a frequent concert goer, there will inevitably come a time when you will find yourself in attendance alone. It is a troublesome position to be in at such a social event. The band hasn't started to play yet and you are surrounded by groups of people chatting and dancing, or worse, you're crammed next to that couple sucking face in the middle of Webster Hall. It must be that starry backdrop they've got there that is just so romantic that they couldn't possibly resist. In the meantime, you crane your neck anxiously scanning the room thinking, "Where the f*ck are my friends!?". Here are your options. Take it from me.

• Alcohol is your friend. Okay, Tequila did turn on you last Cinco de Mayo but you've gotten past that messy betrayal. So order a PBR and hope that it's not too absurdly overpriced and let it work its magic. The drink is your new focal point and you can let it wash over that sadness and despair at the pit of your stomach. It may even loosen you up enough to make a few new friends, but lets not get ahead of ourselves here.
• Rock out to the awful openers. One time at Terminal 5, whilst waiting for Ratatat to begin their set or for my very late friends to arrive, I allowed to myself to focus my energies on a rather disappointing band called Panther. It was only slightly less painful than being bored and alone, but at least I had something to report to my friends when they finally showed.
• Cellphone/Blackberry/iPhone. Not only does texting (or bbming) on your phone prove to the other non-lonely people around you that you do, in fact, have friends, but it also offers to entertain you while you wait. So, play a rousing game of BrickBreaker, send whiny texts to your friends, and maybe update your Twitter while you're at it.
  
• Embrace your inner loner. Sometimes music is best enjoyed privately anyway. Keep in mind that many reporters attend shows alone all the time. They always manage to look cool jotting pretentious thoughts in their little notebooks so feel free to channel them. Most importantly, remember that you will probably never see most of these concert goers ever again, unless of course they show up on this site, so relax and enjoy yourself.